‘TUF: Brazil 3’ Recap: Episode 8

On last week’s episode, middleweight Marcio
“Lyoto” Alexandre snapped a 0-4 start and claimed the first
victory of the season for Team Sonnen. The celebration was
short-lived, however, as the fighter suffered an injury to his left
leg while throwing kicks in the fight.

Alexandre comes back to the fighter house with the leg immobilized
in a cast. He tells the other competitors that he’ll be fine with a
few days of ice and physical therapy, but the limb still needs to
be reexamined the following day.

Miranda, who normally competes at 205 pounds, admits to being upset
over the fight selection. He and Branjao are training partners
outside of “TUF,” and the pair had only joked about potentially
meeting in the reality show’s tournament. Branjao appears less
conflicted, stating that they need to follow the orders of
“President Wanderlei.”

Team Sonnen assistant coach Vinny
Magalhaes notes that Silva was outraged during the first season
of “TUF Brazil” when rival Vitor
Belfort selected a fight between two friends.

“He’s a false moralist,” Magalhaes opines. “He says one thing, but
he does another.”

Former UFC middleweight contender and current World Series of
Fighting competitor Yushin Okami
pays a visit to Team Sonnen at the gym. “Thunder” gets right into
the mix, going toe-to-toe with Warlley
Alves, Guilherme
Vasconcelos and others in some hard sparring sessions.

It’s soon time for another outdoor challenge, and this one is
called “The Bridge.” Each team sends six fighters to stand in two
lines and move a series of wooden planks between them while four
potential Octagon girls cross, one by one, over the moving bridge.
The race is a dead heat until the fourth leg, when Team Silva pulls
away and nabs the victory. As a reward, the team enjoys a spa day
full of baths and massages.

The next morning, coach Sonnen shows up at the house with trays
full of food for his squad. The fighters seem surprised at Sonnen’s
generosity as they scarf down sushi and pasta. When Silva’s team
returns to the house, Paulo
“Borrachinha” Costa strikes up a conversation with Sonnen
through a translator, asking whether the American has changed his
views on Brazil. Ismael de
Jesus is none too happy about his teammate “sucking up” to
Sonnen and eating the food, but the incident passes.

As fight time nears, Branjao explains that he begin training
jiu-jitsu and muay Thai at a young age after he was bullied in
school for being overweight. His opponent, Miranda, started his
athletic career as a basketball player but fell in love with
fighting when he discovered muay Thai.

Miranda recounts the drowning death of his 4-year-old son in 2011,
a tragedy which the Brazilian says he has harnessed in each fight
since.

“I gathered all this grief,” Miranda explains, “and I transformed
it into energy and motivation. Every win from that day on was
dedicated to my son.”

It’s time for the weigh-in, where friends Miranda and Branjao have
agreed to wear sunglasses and baseball caps to avoid an awkward
faceoff. Branjao weighs in at 236 pounds and Miranda at 229, and
their shades achieve the desired effect as both men exit the gym
with smiles on their faces.

The fight begins and Branjao gets off to a good start, popping
Miranda with a couple hooks before shoving the smaller man against
the cage and working knees in the clinch. The heavyweights look
very much like two friends fighting as they spend the first three
minutes of the fight grappling for position on the fence. Once they
separate, however, Branjao comes forward throwing heavy hands at
Miranda, who answers with low kicks. Branjao gets caught off
balance in a Thai clinch and tilts to the ground, allowing Miranda
to stand over him and attack with more kicks.

The referee orders Branjao to stand with one minute left, and when
the big man gets up, he looks tired. Miranda picks up the pace,
cracking “Montanha” with low kicks before throwing a sweet
body-head punching combination. A right hook upstairs drops Branjao
to the canvas, where Miranda pounces and unloads with left hands
until the referee intervenes. It’s a first-round technical knockout
for Miranda, improving Team Sonnen’s record to 2-4.

There aren’t many dry eyes in the gym after the fight, and Miranda
is quick to console the distraught Branjao. The fighters embrace as
they return to their respective locker rooms, and Branjao assures
Miranda that he holds no grudge, that it’s all in a day’s work.
Nonetheless, once he’s out of Branjao’s sight, Miranda breaks down,
sobbing uncontrollably after eliminating his friend from the
competition.

“I didn’t stop a friend’s dream, but I did postpone it,” Miranda
says after calming down. “I had to do it for me and my family.”